Springbok Player Wessels Handed Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa prop Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.

The altercation occurred in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head.

Following Murphy complained to the match official, the event was checked by the television match official, who found no conclusive video evidence.

The Bulls player stayed on the pitch until he was substituted in the second half of the game.

While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached law 9.27, which states:

"A player must not engage in actions that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, pulling or compressing the private areas."

The panel concluded that the event reached the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under international rugby rules for such an infringement.

However, the player's suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct during the proceedings and his good record.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, France, the Azzurri and Ireland.

He will additionally be absent for the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.

Wessels has won ten international appearances for the Springboks and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

Murphy, in contrast, is available to face Munster in Saturday's domestic clash after being exonerated.